I agree, it looked like an average club ride or tour full of tourist and sport riders just cruising along.

We have a a few guys here that brag all the time how fast they are and all they do is ride with a bunch of retirees on their daily social ride then brag about how they killed it and put the hurt on them. When I ask them to come out and ride with the race team, they always have an excuse. The one guy brags he can TT at 35mph which is faster than any pro. I told him to take his cyclometer off KPH and put on MPH!

Got any saddle recommendations for a skinny-assed guy who wants to put ~2 hours in the saddle on a ride?

Light would be nice, but not the be-all-end-all goal.

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Try a Trek Dealer who has one of the benches you sit on, it shows color variations of pressure at the sit bones and you match the color to the saddle width. Our shop has a table full of saddles that are take offs and such that people try during demo rides and a neighboring shop has a saddle library where you borrow one for a week then bring it back or buy it.

Saddle fit is so subjective that its almost impossible to predict who will fit what.

For example:

I think Ariones are ass hatchets but a buddy loves em

I think Antares saddles are pretty good for my fit, but another buddy can't ride em

Regals are too wide and I end up sitting way up on the nose all the time. I SO wanted to like the 2 that I bought with Ti rails. Ditto with the Turbomatic Team saddles. I still have one left if someone wants to start a saddle swap.

Try a Trek Dealer who has one of the benches you sit on, it shows color variations of pressure at the sit bones and you match the color to the saddle width. Our shop has a table full of saddles that are take offs and such that people try during demo rides and a neighboring shop has a saddle library where you borrow one for a week then bring it back or buy it.

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Got a buddy that works at a shop with one of those pressure pad seats that shows the width of your sit bones (or what ever they are). He is using a saddle 10mm wider now and is pretty happy. He's smallish guy, too.

I agree with Gummee! about subjectivity, but look around for a shop with one of these things. Might be a good starting point.

"I don't know anything about cooking. Could you just quickly talk me through what ingredients to buy and how to prepare them?"

"Can I just borrow a knife and a chopping board? I know what I'm doing, I used to work in a canteen."

If the proprietor makes the mistake of saying yes to (3), then:

"Can you just show me how to use this knife? I'm good with spoons and forks and stuff, but I've never really used a knife before" ... and proceeds to take up more of the chef's time than if he'd just cooked the meal in the first place.

Whilst getting in the way of the proprietor who is trying to move tables and chairs out onto the patio: "I know you don't open for another 15 minutes, but could you just quickly make me something to eat now? I'm in a bit of a hurry." Then (counter-productively for both parties) loiters in the doorway.

"If I buy all the ingredients from you, will you charge me extra to cook them?"

"Can I watch the chef while he cooks my meal so I know how to do it myself next time?"

"£9.50 for a single course!?! F***in' 'ell, you can get a whole supermarket ready-meal for less than that!"

"How much do you charge for a meal?" When the waiter explains that it depends entirely on what he orders, the customer replies "Just roughly how much? On average". The waiter says the usual practice is to book a table and browse through the menu, and reiterates that the price will depend on what the customer chooses. So the customer books a table for the following week, and never shows up.

"Hi. I had a meal here a couple of days ago and you said it would be really filling, but I'm hungry again already. Can I have a refund?"

I agree, it looked like an average club ride or tour full of tourist and sport riders just cruising along.

We have a a few guys here that brag all the time how fast they are and all they do is ride with a bunch of retirees on their daily social ride then brag about how they killed it and put the hurt on them. When I ask them to come out and ride with the race team, they always have an excuse. The one guy brags he can TT at 35mph which is faster than any pro. I told him to take his cyclometer off KPH and put on MPH!

I'm really struggling over the bike shop issue. Having worked in one for 12 years and dealing with all sorts, I understand the issues at play.

Yet my local bike shop has still not received the Look Keo cleats I paid 35 dollars for 3 weeks ago. And hasn't bother to call. I have to stop in and ask. He's never installed a Campy Ultra Torque bottom bracket and started talking bollocks about BB30's and whatnot.

I have had constant problems with this FSA bottom bracket and chainset. It has creaked and groaned and now it is screaming like a French whore. I have a take-off Dura Ace chainset and bottom bracket, and I asked about him taking off the FSA junk and installing my Dura Ace crank/BB.

Since the FSA is compact and the DA is 53/39, I'll need a new Dura Ace chain. He looked at me in a very pissy way, which I understand. I'm bringing him a used chainset and a new DA bottom bracket not sourced from him. He get's to sell me a DA chain for 100 dollars. Sort of hemmed and hawed and started getting stroppy.

So I ordered a chain for 53 dollars online and a bottom bracket cup tool for 20 dollars and the tool for setting the preload on the DA crank arm for 2.50. I'll do it all myself. He could have made the labour and whatever bit of dosh on the sale of the chain. Now he makes nothing. I have also ordered a workstand. It is clear that I will have to do the bulk of the work myself. And this was not my plan. I told the pillion this wouldn't take up time like motorcycles and I wouldn't be in the garage monkeying with these things if I started back to cycling. I had a bike shop 5 blocks away, I could drop the sodding thing off, have a pint, come back and fetch it. I also told her I'd stop playing hockey this year if I started cycling. I suppose that didn't work out either. I may need a house mate here in a bit if this keeps up.

I'd rather him say, "okay, 35 dollars for the install and removal and 100 for the chain and pick it up late tomorrow." We could have had a good relationship. I don't mind paying for the expertise and customer service, I'm not getting either. The other really good shop is 45 minutes away and requires a border crossing.

I still have my LOOK cleats on order with him but I have just received a second set from England for 16 dollars.

Of course you need to be going 37mph to even thing about a KOM on around here, I live in the "hilly" section of the county and I climb a whopping 217 feet from high to low and back to high....over 6 miles.

These guys doing 7,000 feet in 20 miles per ride I would have to do something like 720 miles to match that in my area.

I could see this somewhere like "P" bike but not so much around here at the shops in Chapel Hill/Carrboro. I know most of the mechanics by first name since they all race and/or work as mechanics at the races. At least two local shops have given me free reign to their tools and workstands if I walk in with an issue and they are tied up with another customer. They have also provided a wealth of tips and knowledge that I use in my own garage/workshop. It's all in building the relationship. Now, that's not to say that I haven't experienced some "Third Reich" style shops where I felt like I was a customer in the Soup Nazi episode from Seinfeld, but I will only give them business if I absolutely have no other avenue to sort out my problem.

I could see this somewhere like "P" bike but not so much around here at the shops in Chapel Hill/Carrboro. I know most of the mechanics by first name since they all race and/or work as mechanics at the races. At least two local shops have given me free reign to their tools and workstands if I walk in with an issue and they are tied up with another customer. They have also provided a wealth of tips and knowledge that I use in my own garage/workshop. It's all in building the relationship. Now, that's not to say that I haven't experienced some "Third Reich" style shops where I felt like I was a customer in the Soup Nazi episode from Seinfeld, but I will only give them business if I absolutely have no other avenue to sort out my problem.

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Hang out for a while. They'll be in. They're ALWAYS in.

Went and rode my '4 dirt roads' loop yesterday. Quick 20 miler that never got more than 5mi from home.

I gotta tell ya... The more I ride that Altamira CX bike, the more I like it.

Most of the shops in my town I avoid. They probably have ok service, I know some do not, but I do all my own wrenching so only come in for the odd part or two or to get some spokes cut.

One shop called an old girl friend of mine a "nice kickstand" when she brought her mtn bike in for help finding a part for it. Oh, she was pissed. If she didn't know the mechanic she was getting help from she would have walked out right there.

Biggest problem I have is the guys at the shop I go to know me well enough that sometimes they feel like they can look past me to the person who walked in behind me. That's gotten annoying, especially when I'm picking something up that I dropped $250 on.

was gonna say, that was /barely/ a bump. and that was NOT a peloton, by any stretch of anyone's imagination. more like a bunch of sunday riders out on a century.

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I'm pretty sure I know the guy via the internet who posted that video. I suspect he'd be shocked that anyone took it seriously. His name is Kim Rowe - bicycletrailreview.com, Aurelius - lots of FL trail info on his site.

That video is so self-promoting. At 5:30, the 3rd or 4th rider is on a MTB. After the supposed "3 minute" break, that MTB is at the sharp end of the "peloton". I don't think anyone was killing it. No one wants to ride with a dick like this guy.

I wondered if anyone else saw that. I can't see to the left or the right in the video but it didn't appear that visibility was all that good. It could be they had some kind of road marshals there. Doubtful though.

I wondered if anyone else saw that. I can't see to the left or the right in the video but it didn't appear that visibility was all that good. It could be they had some kind of road marshals there. Doubtful though.

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People routinely ignore road signs here in Florida, especially cyclists. That's one of the things I like about living here.

In fact, there's a discussion taking place on a local cycling forum as to whether we should petition the state legislature to exclude cyclists from having to obey traffic laws. I'm all for it. Few of us obey the law anyway, and that would just make it official.

People routinely ignore road signs here in Florida, especially cyclists. That's one of the things I like about living here.

In fact, there's a discussion taking place on a local cycling forum as to whether we should petition the state legislature to exclude cyclists from having to obey traffic laws. I'm all for it. Few of us obey the law anyway, and that would just make it official.

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I look better as a cyclist than a hood ornament. I suspect a rolling stop would be a great compromise.